Pastor’s Blog

A Word From Pastor Jon - May 2012

Tue, 8 May 2012 18:46:49 -0700

“Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered.”
Proverbs 21:13
“If you say, ‘But we knew nothing about this,’ does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay everyone according to what they have done?”
Proverbs 24:12
I have been reading in Proverbs in my personal devotional time lately. As you expect, there is a lot that is said about being wise and how to do that. If you are wise, you will certainly be rewarded by living a better and more prosperous life, and you will be well thought of by those who know you. In the midst of this talk of wisdom and prosperity, there are also cautions made to not forget those who are struggling in this life.
I have posted two of these verses for you above. The first says that if you ignore the cry of the needy, there will come a time when you will need help and cry out. Just as you ignored the cry of those in need, your cry will also be ignored. The implication is that God will be the one who ignores you if you have not cared for others when they needed your help. That is a scary thought, isn’t it? It causes me to think of all the people who I pass by every day. Do I ignore them? Am I doing anything to help them in their needs. Am I the one God is talking about here?
The obvious example are the people begging on the freeway offramps. If I throw a few quarters out the window, have I met God’s expectations? Those people may have needs, but they are surely not the only people who need in our community. Am I off the hook if I am unaware of the needs of others around me? It is their obligation to let me know if they need my help, right?
The second verse seems to indicate to me that it is my obligation to find out the needs of others, even if they don’t ask. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, and those that cry out the loudest and longest usually get some help from people. But what about the shy, the humble, the meek? Those are often the ones that need the most help and they often get the least assistance. God tells us that we are expected to look for those that have needs around us. Ignorance may be bliss, but according to God, it is not a viable excuse.
I love when I see people fulfilling God’s commands. We just had a major event at our church we reached out to more than a hundred needy people. We gave food, clothes, hair care, gifts, toys, and love to women and families living in shelters around our community. Most people probably didn’t even know these women and their needs existed nearby. Rose LaZurs went looking for them. When she found them, she heard their cries and tried to meet their needs. With the help of about 50 volunteers, we were able to help these women feel loved and, more importantly, experience the love that God has for them.
Are you unaware of needs around you? Maybe you need to take a walk and do some looking around. Start asking questions. Most importantly, pray that God will open your eyes to the needs He wants you to meet.

-Pastor Jon

If you would like to ask me a question or share a comment with me, please email me pastorjon@hhbchurch.com. I would love to hear from you!

A Word From Pastor Jon - April 2012

Tue, 3 Apr 2012 16:21:55 -0700

“With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.” Acts 2:40-41

Numbers. I used to love numbers. Math was my favorite subject in school and I was a math major in college. I used to add up numbers in my head just for fun. I made up games where I had to keep track of all kinds of statistics with averages and percentages, all before calculators were invented.
But in ministry, we are taught to avoid numbers. King David got in big trouble with God because he counted the number of soldiers he had (1 Chron. 21). It is a sign of pride to count how many people come when you’re are growing, it troubles your faith to count when numbers are dwindling. So most of the time when we count, we keep the numbers to ourselves.
But if you look in the Bible, you will see all kinds of numbers. There is even an entire book devoted to counting called…..Numbers. They counted how many days on the ark (40), how many years in the desert (40) and how many days Jesus fasted (40 ~ hmmm). They counted how many people Jesus fed with just 5 small loaves of bread (5,000), How many fish they caught at Jesus’ command (153) and how many accepted Jesus as savior on Pentecost (3,000). Why are numbers so important at some times and so evil at others? The answer lies in who gets the credit and the glory when things go well. If David had been counting to give God praise for His faithfulness, instead of taking pride in his own power, things might have gone differently for him
I am going to throw out a few numbers just so God can get the glory. We had 21 kids tonight for Great News Club and more than half were from the apartment complex where none of our members come from. In fact, most of the adults don’t even speak English, and we have to use their young children as interpreters to speak to them. On Tuesday we had 19 for college Bible Study, the most in a long time. We have a wall in our worship center we have been recording names of people saved this year through the ministry of the church. After this week, there should be 28 names recorded there.
If I were the source of all these numbers I might be tempted to boast. But since this year of prayer has begun, I have seen more and more of the positive results happening through other people in the church. In many cases, the biggest numbers have come through people who have been here less than a year. I am finding that more and more ministry in the church is happening without me and many times I am getting the word after the fact. I may not even know most of what is going on for the Lord around here.
That is exactly how it should be. One of the missionary speakers at our church said that the role of pastor is one of guidance and leadership. The role of minister is in the hands of the members of the church. They are the ones that have been gifts and responsibility for ministering to others (Romans 12). If our church is to continue to grow, it won’t be by my efforts. It will be because more and more of our members will be doing the ministry they have been called by God to do. And this will only happen as more and more of us pray and ask for more workers for the harvest (Luke 10:2). Please join me in doing that.

Hallelujah!

-Pastor Jon

If you would like to ask me a question or share a comment with me, please email me pastorjon@hhbchurch.com. I would love to hear from you!

A Word From Pastor Jon - March 2012

Thu, 1 Mar 2012 14:56:17 -0800

Pastor Vinh challenged the college group on Valentine’s Day to write a love letter to Jesus. Here is what I came up with:

Dear Jesus,

I love You. I love You because You loved me first.
You went looking for me, You found me and won over my heart.
I love the way You accept me just the way I am, faults and all.
I love how You always make time for me.
You have become my best friend.
Even after I hurt You with my insensitive, selfish thoughts and actions,
You never fail to show Your generous kindness to me.
You rejoice when I rejoice, You weep when I weep.
Despite my many failures, You always forgive me and welcome me back.
I am so happy that You are not at all like me.
You have given me the perfect example of loving self-sacrifice
That I could only at my best try to emulate.
I love all that You have made (that includes people, too). Your creativity is incredible.
In my times of greatest weakness, You have been my strength, getting me through.
In my times of greatest strength, You have been my best fan, cheering me on.
Even in the times that I have doubted You, walked away from You and ignored You,
You never gave up on me. You only reached out to me with greater urgency
There are not enough superlatives to express how awesome You are, or how much I think of You.
All the years that we have spent together have only deepened my love for You,
And I can only hope that my love will increase steadily until the day I die.
I am deeply indebted to You for the love You have shown to my family.
My prayers have always been that you draw my kids into deep relationship with You.
You have proven Yourself faithful in all Your ways.
I also thank you for loving the rest of my family and friends.
You have adopted nearly all of them into Your family so I can be with them forever.
Every time I have sought out your help or comfort, You have given me what I needed.

I am at loss for words trying to share how deeply I love you for dispensing
Your endless supply of grace and mercy to me in immeasurable abundance. If I ever stop loving You, please take me out of this world,
Because life would not be worth living outside of relationship with You.

I love You,
Your son Jon

If you would like to ask me a question or share a comment with me, please email me pastorjon@hhbchurch.com. I would love to hear from you!

A Word From Pastor Jon - February 2012

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 14:54:30 -0800

“ 17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.”
-Ephesians 4:17-19
I recently became facebook friends with a liberal feminist atheist. I’m not sure how that happened, a friend of a friend I think, but it has opened my eyes to completely different world of postings that come across my page – including homosexual activists, Wiccan priestesses and religion haters. I’m a little unsure of why I haven’t been defriended yet, but that will probably be happening soon.
One post was an article about how all evangelical Christians are close-minded homosexual haters that don’t know what they were talking about. Included in the post was a statement from my facebook friend stating that she didn’t want to see any comments from evangelical Christians, and if she got any she would take down the posting. There were several people that had posted comments agreeing with the article, so I felt compelled to give a defense for why I thought this was not entirely fair to all evangelicals. I did it as fairly and pleasantly as I could. True to her word, she immediately deleted the posting.
Hmmm. You want to try to sway people to your way of thinking by posting an article that defends your beliefs, but you absolutely refuse to listen to anyone with an opposing opinion, and I am the close-minded one? I am noticing a trend in our society from open discussion about differences in opinion to one of one-sided name calling and intolerance of beliefs that conflict with yours. People that disagree with you are labeled haters and dismissed from the debate. Facebook and other social networks allow people to congregate in cyberspace with other like-minded people and there is no longer any need to interact with people that you disagree with. It used to be that we were forced by proximity and social norms to try to at least be pleasant with those we differed with. Now, one click and your gone, I don’t have to be bothered by you anymore.
If I don’t openly embrace the opinions of those I disagree with, I am labeled intolerant which allows those who consider themselves tolerant of others to quit tolerating me. I’m not sure I get it, but this is the way the world is heading. Divisions will only become wider as people stop listening to anyone they disagree with. Evangelical Christians have been especially targeted because they are least likely to give in to peer pressure from to change their beliefs to match those that are being promoted by special interest groups that want to push their agenda on us. We will not compromise on what the Bible teaches, we will not change our morals or ethics.
My dad used to have a bumper sticker on his car that said “God says it, I believe it, that settles it.” If that makes me a close-minded bigot in your book, than I guess I can’t do anything about that. But if you want to hear what God has done in my life to convince me that He is real, His Word is the truth, and He is the way to peace, love and contentment, I would love to give you some of my time. If you don’t like what I have to say, just push delete.

-Pastor Jon

If you would like to ask me a question or share a comment with me, please email me pastorjon@hhbchurch.com. I would love to hear from you!

A Word From Pastor Jon - January 2012

Sun, 1 Jan 2012 13:19:39 -0800

“31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:31-33
I have relationships with several people that are completely based on need. They need something, they think I have it, and they want me to give it to them. Some of those people are very nice and thankful for what they get, others are rude and not very appreciative. I usually try to help them all out because the Bible says that when I give to others I am actually giving to Jesus, and I don’t want to say no to Jesus. But it is sad that these people never get to know me, and I don’t really get to know them. As soon as they have what they want, they leave, and I don’t see them until they need something else from me.
Many people have that kind of relationship with God. They will pray and ask Him for help when they need something, but as soon as they have what they want, they forget about Him until they are in trouble again. God is willing to have this kind of relationship with people because some relationship is better than no relationship. But how God longs to be closer! How He longs for a more intimate relationship!
People who want to have a deeper relationship with me can do so. Pick a time when neither of us will be rushed and set an appointment. Ask me questions about myself and my opinions and wait for me to give my answer. Take our relationship seriously, enjoy the moment and don’t miss appointments. Do this and we will undoubtedly become friends.
I can understand why people may not feel it is worth it to become friends with me. What I can’t understand is why people don’t want to be friends with God. A lot of upside with very little downside. God is available 24 hours a day, and is always able to meet you at the place of your choosing. You don’t have to dress, talk or act a certain way, in fact, God prefers that you be yourself. Keep your requests to a minimum, because God already knows all of your needs even better than you know them. Instead, focus on getting to know God better. Ask Him lots of questions and give Him time to answer you.
So far this year (yeah, I know it is only January 3rd!), I have been making appointments with God and keeping them. I spend time alone, so I am not disrupted and so I can talk to Him out loud if I feel like it. I have been taking a Bible and a Hymn book. The Hymn book puts me in the right Spirit (praise music will do, too) as I sing and reflect on the words. The Bible helps me ask God questions, as I read and want to know what it means. Then I take walk and listen for His answers. I have been loving the time we are spending together!
You may want to start small. Give God 15 minutes of your day. Read some Bible and pray. Listen to some Christian music on the way to work. Reflect on the words. Ask God questions. Listen. You will be surprised by the results. Friendship with God!

-Pastor Jon

If you would like to ask me a question or share a comment with me, please email me pastorjon@hhbchurch.com. I would love to hear from you!